Today was an exciting day. We received and entire galaxy in the mail. How 'bout these basketball kicks for a 13-year-old kid.

You are looking at a pair of personalized Converse shoes. Baggins shoes, out of Victoria BC, will take just about any design you want and print them either on a pair of Converse or slip-on Vans.

The Andromeda print was courtesy of a dear friend who also happens to be an astro-photographer and the shoes themselves were one of the last gifts from Daddy. So they are a very special pair of kicks. They are currently indeed being used to play basketball.

Today in homeschooling, we explored further the idea of environmental stewardship from a traditional First Nations perspective. Turns out I share that perspective. I do Métis heritage but I came by my perspective through a Taoist philosophy and decades now of spiritual practice. It turns out when you travel the Way, you get there.

For academic purposes, we summarized, paragraph by paragraph, the article Natural World, reproduced here under creative commons licensing.

Paragraphe One

A deep and genuine relationship with the Earth has long been a central tenet of First Nations worldviews and philosophy. Long before the mainstream construct of "Mother Earth" became popular, the First Nations, Inuit, and later Metis people truly connected with the Earth as their Mother. The natural world is considered home, and the rightful stance to take upon her is a respectful, interconnected one of stewardship and gratitude.

Our summary sentence

Traditional first nations people see the Earth as their Mother, and that we should take care of her with stewardship.

If a mother, or parent, is the one that nurtures and sees to all our material needs, then certainly a parallel can be drawn between the relationship of every living being on this planet, everything we consume to grow and sustain ourselves, to a parent-child relationship. There is very little outside of a few minerals delivered by meteorite that did not come from the Earth's largesse and maternal-like generosity.

Paragraph Two

This relationship went further than just a powerful connection - over the millennia, First Nations and Inuit people developed intricate knowledge and understanding of the natural world. Their awareness of global laws and patterns is equal to and even exceeds mainstream scientific knowledge and offers clues to our continued survival on this planet. Their keen understanding of weather, seasons, geography, animal behaviours and patterns, plant growth, sea and water fluctuations, soil protection, gardening, ethnobotany, ecology, astronomy, and other natural knowledge is sophisticated and has been validated repeatedly over generations.

Our Summary sentence

Traditional First Nations People have a lot of knowledge gained through the collective learning of thousands of years, and they should be listened to and consulted when we make decisions

The snafu here is that traditional knowledge is often given through metaphor and legend. Modern scientific minds, who have often been taught to disregard anything not told through scientific language and method, do not possess the open mind that is the Rosetta Stone that allows the deciphering of myth and metaphor; allows for the discovery of meaning and truth. It is left to the modern-day scientifically-educated shamans to mind the gap and foster understanding and shared growth.

Paragraph 3

For countless generations, the First Nations and Inuit people have had unique, respectful and sacred ties to the land that sustained them. They do not claim ownership of the Earth, but rather, declare a sense of stewardship towards the land and all of its creatures. This sense of responsibility towards the land is more than a mental or even emotional obligation; it is tied intrinsically to Spirit. A strong communion with the spirit of all aspects of the earth provides a unique perceptual lens through which all activities of daily life become an expression of Spirit.

Our Summary Sentence

Traditional First Nations People see stewardship not through ownership, but through the eyes of spirt, and its connection to nature and every living being.

One of the most absurd ideas, based on imaginary laws and lines drawn by hungry, consuming obsessed humans, is the idea that an individual can own a piece of land. Yes, I understand that trespassing laws help to keep the peace, and having possession of a small parcel of land to raise food and reside upon, foster security and even creativity; but the idea that the individual, or even a group of individuals or corporation, has dominance over the land is ridiculous.

The land does not need an owner; it tends to do better without one. The so-called owner needs the land. The land can only remain fruitful, if its processes are honoured and what is taken from it is inevitably returned to its soil.

Paragraph 4

First Nations, Inuit, and Metis knowledge is strongly linked to the natural world: Indigenous languages, cultural practices, and oral traditions are all intimately connected to the Earth. Traditionally, First Nations and Inuit people see their relationship with each other and with the Earth as an interconnected web of life, which manifests as a complex ecosystem of relationships. Balance and holistic harmony are essential tenets of this knowledge and subsequent cultural practices. Embedded too is a keen belief in both adaptability and change, but change that further promotes balance and harmony, not change that creates distress, death, and the depletion of the Earth’s populations and resources. Careful observation of the seasons and the cycles of life foster an appreciation for the impermanence of things, including humans, as well as the interdependence of all life forms with each other.

Our Summary Sentence

When traditional First Nations Peoples take care of the land they do it with an eye towards sustainability, diversity, and interconnectedness, balance and harmony.

We live in a world that emphasizes consumption and the idealization of powerful and famous people. The accumulation of individual wealth and conveniences. We have fallen out of balance as evident from the health of individuals and much of natural environs. Nature heals when you take care of her. Care given to her health and diversity is care given to yourself.

16

Quiet your thoughts
Free from the tremors
That disturb the soil
You’ll discover the seed
From which all grows

Roots, shoots, and leaves
There is no separation

Even a severed limb
Grows again in the same soil
Comes from the same seed
Entwines with established roots

The kindest grandmother knows
Nothing is lost when she waters
The garden of another

When winter comes
You will return to soil
Knowing spring follows winter
Birth follows death